After a year of upheaval, both Strawberry Duchy and Feathisia Duchy were now fallen under the control of the forces of the Griffonian Empire ruled by the Imperial Regent Archon Eros. In an accordance with the personal order from Archon Eros himself, the Imperial forces took great priority in capturing Duke Gerlach of Feathisia and Duchess Gabriela Eagleclaw of Strawberry Duchy alive no matter the cost. And even before the Empire could fully reclaim their respective duchies, both the Duke and the Duchess were captured in a secret hideout located within the remaining territories of eastern Feathisia by the Imperial agents. While expecting a severe punishment by the agents, Duke and Duchess were shocked when they learned that Archon Eros was waiting for them in the Imperial Capital of Griffenheim. A week later, they arrived in Griffenheim under heavy escort.
Emotionless, Archon Eros is waiting for his “guests” in the reception room of the Royal Palace. While sitting on a chair, he stares at the closed entrance door, thinking about how he could explain the inexplicable situation he is in. A couple of minutes later, the door opens. Duke Gerlach and Duchess Gabriela enter the room alongside a dozen guards. As the group arrives right in front of Archon, he calls out to them:
“Give the Duke and Duchess breathing place.”
The guards gradually start to walk away and exit the room. Leaving the guests and Archon alone in the room alongside two guards.
Both Duke and Duchess were staring at Archon with mixed emotions; hatred, fear, and surprise, while on the other hand, Archon continued to stare at them back with his soulless eyes. After a painfully long and silent wait, Duchess Gabriela breaks the silence with an uncertain voice:
“Archon Eros, would mind explaining?”
Archon however remains silent and only makes a gesture telling them to sit on the two chairs in front of him. The two hesitantly sit down. After sitting, Duke Gerlach couldn’t help but speak out:
“Archon, I know you wouldn’t invite us to the capital with peaceful purposes in mind. If what’s in your mind is exile or death for us, don’t elongate this any further, just tell.”
After him Gabriela asks again:
“Archon. If you are going to exile us or… kill us. Let me see my nephew one last time, please.”
Archon continues staring at them, not sure how to explain the things that occurred. He decides to break his silence:
“I’m not exiling you two anywhere.”
Two get anxious, as they suppose this answer is a confirmation of their execution. Duke Gerlach only sighs and looks to the ground, while Gabriela speaks out:
“Please, I ask you again, let me see him one last time before I die.”
Archon Eros:
“Calm down, I have no intention of killing you, Duchess. You too Duke Gerlach.”
Gerlach raises his head again and asks in confusion:
“Then… why would you bring us to Griffenheim if you don’t want to watch us die?”
Archon Eros looks at them uncertainly, he sighs and answers:
“I… I need you two.”
With both of them bewildered, Gabriela asks:
“I’m sorry but did I mishear, Archon Eros? You need us?!”
Duke Gerlach also asks in confusion:
“You- You need WHAT?”
Archon sighs and looks at them with unusually grieving eyes, and asks in a gloomy voice:
“I don’t even know where to start…”
Silence sets in the room.
After a moment Duke Gerlach speaks out:
“You don’t know what- …wait, Archon, are you crying?”
Archon Eros struggles to get himself together, and only could mutter:
“The emperor he is…is…”
As Archon fails to find the right words, he fails to answer. Duchess Gabriela gets frightened and asks in fear:
“The emperor… is he okay? Is emperor, okay? …Please tell me he is okay! I beg you!”
Archon’s eyes get tearful as he looks away from her in shame. Duchess becomes more desperate as her eyes start to tear; she screams:
“What happened to him?! What have you done to the emperor?! What have you done to my nephew?! TELL ME, NOW!”
Just as she was about to stand up, Duke Gerlach puts his claw on hers, and assures her:
“Gabriela… calm down, please.”
Tearful, Gabriela turns and looks directly into Gerlach’s eyes. Without saying anything, Gerlach struggles to assure her, and after a while, she finally calms down. She looks down in anguish and asks Archon without making eye contact:
“…He is dead, isn’t he?”
Archon gulps and replies in a dim voice:
“…it’s worse.”
Gabriela and Gerlach are yet again appalled by Archon’s answer, Gabriela frantically asks:
“What do you mean “worse”? What could be worse than death?!”
Archon Eros struggles to talk as he gets overwhelmed by thoughts, and tries to answer:
“I can’t find the right words… If you knew the things I’ve been through, you would understand…”
Gabriela gets even more anxious but before she could burst out again, Gerlach again assures her and talks in her place:
“Archon, would you just tell us what happened to the emperor?”
Archon sighs and answers:
“…His Imperial Majesty is… no longer himself.”
Gerlach looks at her puzzled and asks again:
“What do you mean by this? Is he like, ill or unconscious?”
Gabriela however has comprehended the answer and replies to Archon:
“He is… *possessed*. Isn’t he?”
Archon Eros answers:
“…At this point, I don’t even know.”
Duke Gerlach gathers his mind together and speaks in a firm tone:
“Archon, why don’t you just tell us everything from the start?”
Archon looks at the two, the very sworn enemies of himself, as he struggled against them for countless decades just so he could remove griffons like them from power. But now, he couldn’t feel any contempt against them, he couldn’t even think about politics anymore. Right now, all he knew was the fact that he needed them. He takes a deep breath, looks at them directly in their eyes, and speaks:
“I know both of you weren’t exactly the most religious of griffons. And the things I’m about to tell you… you could rightfully dismiss them as pure nonsense… even so, I struggle to believe the things that have occurred in the last couple of months in front of my eyes. There is no way of me making it sound even somewhat rational…”
Archon takes another deep breath:
“Maar, the Blasphemous God of Death, has entered the physical realm…”
Both Gabriela and Gerlach look at him confused and doubtful, Gabriela asks nervously:
“…Archon, this is too much of a claim… Are you sure about this?”
Archon asserts in a determined tone:
“I, Archon Eros VII of Boreas, the Head of Council of Three, the earthly representative of the entire Griffonian faith(!), never make a “guess” or a “claim” about the very religion I dedicated my entire life into! I only and only declare what I already *know*!”
Archon Eros takes a deep breath yet again and continues:
“Maar tried to take the emperor away from us. Three months ago, we foiled his plot to completely take over the emperor. We have done everything we could to keep Maar away from him, and even though we succeeded in preventing the Empire from falling into the hands of Maar, as he “retreated”, he put the emperor in a state of limbo.”
Gerlach and Gabriela stare at Archon with their beaks open, Gabriela:
“I… I don’t even know what to say…”
Archon Eros continues:
“Then, just let me continue… As far as we know, about 10 months ago, an excavation team from Hellquill arrived in Griffonstone to gather ancient relics with the hopes of finding something… “special”. And they found it… *sigh* By the Gods, they found it…”
Gerlach asks:
“Hellquill? Wingfried von Katerinburg is behind this?
Archon Eros doesn’t break his determined tone and answers:
“Wingfried Katerinburg is not just behind this… it is him; he is Maar…”
Baffled, Gerlach asks again:
“How could this be even possible?”
Archon:
“Those fools have recovered the “Key of Maar”, thinking it’s a historical artifact. It is a box-like device with immense unnatural energy attached to it and it is said to be designed personally by Maar himself. And this was the very thing that Maar required to manifest himself in this dimension. And since Katerinburg was the one who activated the device, as a reward, he became the flesh puppet of Maar.”
Gabriela asks:
“But… how can you be this sure about this?”
Archon Eros sighs and looks down:
“He…Because he came here.”
The two shout simultaneously:
“He came here?!”
Gerlach screams frantically:
“How could you let that happen?!”
Archon looks at the duke irritated and replies furiously:
“You fool… Do you really think I would let that happen?! He sneaked into the Royal Palace with dozens of changelings while using his powers! Or do you think even if I somehow learned about Maar sneaking into here, I could’ve challenged him? He is a deity for Boreas’s sake!”
Duchess Gabriela asks in confusion:
“Wait, did you say “Changelings”? Maar is working with Changelings?!”
Archon Eros sighs and replies:
“This is the reason why I ordered the capture of both of you, I know we need the help of every single living being if we are going to act against Maar, and since he most likely already manipulated and recruited the changelings to serve under his cause, means that he has a grand plan in motion that knows no race, border, or even continent. And considering how close he got to taking over our Empire, we have no idea how much progress he made so far. And he’s been in this world for 10 months already! He might’ve overrun entire countries without the notice of anyone!”
Grand Duke Gerlach looks confused and asks:
“But… We had good relations with Changelings, right? …How did you even find out about the changelings in the first place?
Archon Eros gathers his thoughts for a moment and replies:
“After Katerinburg came here, he apparently had a significant force of changelings to blend in with the Palace personnel so they would “oversee” the process of takeover. Two months ago, our guards revealed the Changeling plot, and the moment we captured one of them, they strategically escaped the Royal Palace overnight, even taking the changeling that we captured with them. And as a result, we couldn’t interrogate even one changeling. But still, I’m certain that the entire Changeling Queendom is already been de facto taken over by Maar, probably even without the notice of Queen Chrysalis, and he is already utilizing their shapeshifting ability to do whatever he desires…”
Gabriela:
“I hope you understand me Archon, but I’m struggling to believe any of this.”
Archon Eros sighs:
“…Yes, as I said, I understand you. Because even I find it hard to believe… but… the things… the things that occurred in this palace two months ago, refutes any skepticism I have…”
Archon recalls all the horrors unleashed by Maar in the palace, causing him to get anxious yet again. He struggles to breathe, and after a while starts coughing violently. Unsure what to do, Duke and Duchess look at the guards to see if they are going to help Archon, but the sentries merely stand in their positions just looking at Archon. Duchess Gabriela couldn’t help but ask:
“Archon Eros? Are you alright- “
Even before she could finish the sentence, she realized that she is asking the griffon that she went to war against if he was okay. But this didn’t prevent the coughing Archon from looking at her oddly, after a while the puzzled Archon answers:
“Yeah, thanks… I guess… Coughing is nothing unusual for me, I just try to… not remember the things that make me… feel bad.”
Duke Gerlach looks at Gabriela as she looks back at him, he then turns to Archon asks him:
“And Archon, I’m assuming that the “horror” that is been unleashed in the palace is not the doing of just changelings.”
Archon gets himself together and replies:
“Then you’d be right…”
Gabriela asks in a concerned voice:
“That event… is related to the case of the emperor, isn’t it?”
Archon sighs:
“Sadly, yes.”
Gabriela asks again:
“Can we see him?”
After thinking for a moment Archon stands up from his chair, and then says:
“Yes, I think that will be the only way for both of you to understand the scale of things we are in right now. Follow me.”
As Duchess quickly stands up, Duke stands up hesitantly while looking at Archon with mistrustful eyes.
After a moment, they exit the room as the other two follow the Archon.
As they advance through the corridors, Duke and Duchess notice the heavy presence of guards, armed to the teeth with modern and ancient weaponry. As they continue walking, Gabriela calls out Archon:
“All these Guards… they too are related to the case of the emperor, aren’t they?”
Archon Eros answers her without eye contact:
“Soon enough, you’ll get all the answers you need.”
The three remain silent until they arrive in front of the emperor’s room, with heavily armed griffons guarding the entrance door. Archon orders the guards to open the door. And as they open it, Duke and Duchess are encountered with an uncanny scene; the room was covered in darkness and it was hard to distinguish things, but as far as they could see the emperor was in his bed with his eyes closed, surrounded by a squad of elite imperial guards, all in ancient Griffonian heavy armors and all carrying ancient weapons that could be considered sacred relics, they are in a standstill formation around the emperor, it was not clear whatever or not the guards were protecting the emperor or treating him as a threat. As the guards hear the door opening, they make way for the three in a quick and orderly manner, as they gradually walk towards the emperor’s oversized bed. The worried Duchess fixates her eyes on her nephew. The emperor was laying on the right end of the bed, with a chair and a small table with a book and tissues placed on it right next to him, and behind the chair, there is a lamp, as it is the only meaningful light source in the room. Duchess presumed both the chair and the table were of Archon Eros’s, where he would sit next to the emperor regularly while reading sacred books to him. Her thoughts were proven to be correct, as Archon Eros sits on the chair as soon as he arrives while fixating his concerned eyes on the emperor. The three now stand right next to the emperor, allowing the Duchess to take a closer look at the emperor, but just as she looked at him, she instantly regretted it. Her nephew’s looks were heartbreaking for her; as his face almost resembled a corpse’s, eyelids covered in darkness, and had noticeably lost tremendous weight, and considering his young age, this should’ve killed him, and besides him barely breathing, she saw no indication of him being alive. Gabriela melancholy asks:
“What have the doctors have said about his condition?”
Archon:
“…They told us that his body temperature was way below the lowest recorded of any “living” griffon; just 7 degrees.”
Duke Gerlach asks in confusion:
“So, you are telling us that his body is generating cold at this point?”
Archon sighs:
“Yes… They told me that his condition was simply incomprehensible. As I said, Maar has put him in limbo, even though he still shows signs of livelihood, most of his bodily functions have collapsed at this point. His digestion system doesn’t work, and his circulatory system barely functions. We occasionally tried to give him water and food. But since most of his body doesn’t even function anymore, we were not sure if we were doing the right thing, so we simply stopped feeding him. Now it’s been a month since he last had water, with no indication whatever or not if he’s improving or worsening…”
Gabriela couldn’t help but tear an eye. She covers her face with her claws and speaks in a low and miserable tone:
“…He didn’t deserve any of this; he was just a child…”
With all three remorseful over the state the emperor is in, nobody interrupts the silence in the room, and simply stares at the unconscious emperor.
After the moment of silence, Duke Gerlach asks:
“…Archon, are we certain that Maar hasn’t possessed anybody else here?”
Archon replies in a low tone:
“Yes, we are… Maar didn’t just come in and possess the emperor, he used a device to reach the emperor…”
Duke Gerlach:
“And what is this “device” exactly?”
Archon:
“You know of the Avalerion right?”
Duke Gerlach:
“Of course, the legendary sword of Grover I. Why are you-… wait, you are telling me that- “
Archon:
“Yes, they not only found the Key to Maar but the Avalerion as well. So, it would be natural for Maar to turn the sacred sword into a dark vessel, carrying a fragment of himself.”
Duke Gerlach:
“And the emperor touched it right?”
Archon:
“He didn’t just touch it; it was gifted to him…”
Duke Gerlach:
“Gifted?!”
Archon:
“Again, Maar was using the body of Katerinburg, and by the time I learned about his “visit” to the palace, he was already having a dinner with the emperor.”
Stunned,
Gabriela breaks her silence:
“A dinner?! The emperor had dinner with Maar?!”
Archon:
“Yes… A dinner which they also “invited” me to, the moment I stormed the dining hall with my guards.”
Gabriela:
“Did you try to arrest him?”
Archon sighs and answers:
“I have… but the emperor objected to my order.”
Gabriela:
“He objected?! How? He’s just a child!”
Archon:
“That’s exactly what I thought, turns out, even before possession, Katerinburg- or rather Maar, had a long and “friendly” chat with him, which somehow affected the emperor very deeply. Even before the possession revealed itself, for months he asked me, or rather “ordered” me to allow him to go to Hellquill. Apparently, they had a long conversation about him going hunting with Katerinburg, which left a positive image of Katerinburg on him somehow. I barely prevented him from going to Hellquill on multiple occasions. And even though I never told him about the possession, I always tried to keep him under check, as he continued to rebel against me, telling me that I was just preventing him from “becoming something much greater”. For the next 8 months after the visit, he continued being himself, he continued being the wise and kind child that he always was. But something changed about him, and although I knew about the possession well before it revealed itself, I still didn’t know what its revelation would look like. For months I kept him under my watch, we studied the ancient archives for months with the other two Archons and the assistants, a way that would foil Maar’s plot.”
Duke Gerlach inquiries:
“And you are somehow certain that nobody else other than the emperor touched it, right?”
Archon:
“I am not certain, I know. Because I discovered the sword’s spell immediately after Maar left the dining hall. I went to my studying room and obtained the book that explained the situation we were in, and guided us on how to proceed, I then ordered the guards to put the sword into a metal box using a cloth, and then hide it in the deepest corner of the palace dungeon’s…”
Archon sighs and continues:
“Afterwards, the emperor despised me deeply for taking away his “gift”. I tried my best to make up excuses for it, but he only ended up hating me more…”
Gabriela:
“Wait, how did you learn about this Maar ‘thing’ in the first place?”
Archon:
“Maar- or Katerinburg- doesn’t matter… he told me about it in front of the emperor without directly mentioning the Maar. He told me about how they “released someone” and how that someone is now “ready to share their skills” with them… But by the gods… He told me that so mockingly, I never felt more disgraced in my entire life… If it was some mortal, I’d only feel petty for him, since those types of people always end up getting humiliated… But this was no mortal in front of me, it was Maar, the God of Death. He was not arrogant because he was overconfident, he acted arrogantly because he fully knew that I was nothing to him. And even after I and other Archons partially foiled his plot, for now, I am simply nothing but an ant for him…”
Gabriela and Gerlach stare at each other, with both of them are now anxious about the situation they’re in. Gabriela thinks to herself for a minute and asks:
“Then… what are we supposed to do? Can we even defeat him? And even if we somehow convince the whole world to fight with us against Maar, what chance would we even have? He’s a deity for Boreas’s sake!”
Archon raises his finger and answers:
“One. We have one advantage against Maar…”
Duke Gerlach:
“And what that would be?”
Archon:
“Even though he might be a deity in the realm of non-matter, he simply cannot use all of his powers in the physical dimension. And as he manifested himself through the flesh of Katerinburg, his powers are not limitless, especially right now, as he is still weak.”
Gabriela:
“Why don’t we just attack him now then?”
Archon:
“By “weak” I meant that he is weak by the norms of a god. What is important about him being in the physical realm is the fact that he cannot be anywhere with his full strength at any time. Meaning that he still needs proxies if he truly wants to conquer the world. And even though he can be spectacular and fault-free in his administrative and military capabilities, he still is nothing without his servants like any other mortal leader, and since these servants are going to be mortals… they cannot be fault-free…”
Gabriela:
“Is it possible to utilize this weakness in our favor?”
Archon:
“How do you think our guards foiled Maar’s plot in the palace? By the incompetence of a changeling spy, of course!”
Duke Gerlach and Duchess Gabriela go wide-eyed as the Duchess asks:
“Would you mind explaining?”
Archon:
“As I said before, we spent months with other Archons and assistants to find a book that would’ve helped us… help us find a solution or at least give us information about Maar… And as the imperial library had millions of books in it, and since we practically had no idea what we were doing; for many months we searched desperately. Towards the end of our research, other Archons and I were practically living in the library, studying day and night. And then… I’m not sure how to put this, but I think Maar accidentally revealed the book to us.”
Duchess Gabriela:
“Accidently?!”
Archon:
“Well, kind of. As we were determined on studying the entire library, we somehow got close to getting what we exactly needed, even though we had no idea about it. While we are not exactly sure what had happened, but I think Maar somehow find out about our studies and got worried about us acquiring a specific book that might’ve stopped him. So, he sent out one of his changeling spies to get the book before we could recover it. And just as that changeling was about to take that book in the library, and again, we are still not sure how it happened, our guards somehow exposed the disguised changeling with the book that contained what we exactly needed, and on that very day, the entire changeling plot revealed itself. And as I told you before, even though we had captured the changeling, the other changelings immediately freed him without our notice, and they all disappeared overnight. But before we could properly question the changeling, he told us that he’s been sent here over his “master’s orders”.”
Duchess Gabriela stares at the book placed on the small table in front of Archon and asks:
“This is the book you were talking about; I presume.”
Archon:
“Yes, and as you can see, it doesn’t matter how much of a perfect leader you are, as long as the people that are executing your will are vulnerable to making drastic mistakes… mistakes such as revealing your great weaknesses to your enemy.”
Duke Gerlach:
“And this book, what is it anyway?”
Archon picks up the book and raises it:
“This book is The Acadian Truth by Saint Acadia, written 600 years before the birth of Grover I…”
Duke Gerlach:
“From the Griff Dark Ages…”
Archon:
“Not so dark, perhaps… Because I must say, this book was the single most sophisticated thing I’ve ever read in my entire life, and I’m saying this as an old griff that had spent his entire life reading and studying old scripts like this; this book is simply having no equivalent to itself in any field possible…”
Gabriela:
“Then what was so scary about it that Maar, a literal god, felt like he should intervene and take away that book?”
Archon:
“…The instructions in it… were shockingly informing. I’m assuming Saint Acadia himself saw the Key to Maar and studied it. As everyone knows that Maar is capable of possessing bodies or making deals with mortals, nobody, rightfully so, ever thought of him making a physical appearance in this realm… But yet, somehow Saint Arcadia was capable of authoring a book that could’ve scared off a deity just by its contents alone… We are not sure how he even acquired this information in the first place, and I doubt we will ever find out about it… But we are just thankful for him, that’s all, for that, he wrote something that could’ve scared off a deity.”
Duchess Gabriela:
“Archon Eros… how did you exactly “scare off” Maar? What even happened two months ago?”
Archon Eros thinks to himself, unsure how to explain all of it. He then tries to answer:
“…The very day after we found out about the changelings, we Archons along with guards immediately went to the emperor’s room with the book in my claw. The moment we arrived, I tried to explain to him that we were just here to just pray for him. But he hesitated, he hesitated like he never before… Never in his life, has he acted like this, start screaming with hatred, and behave as if we were about to kill him… Eventually, I had to order the guards to hold him still, and after a minute of struggle I opened the pages and approached him…”
Archon Eros opens up the book and starts flipping pages. After searching for a while, he finds the page he was looking for. He clears his throat and continues:
“…And I read him this verse; “Deus nos ominies salvitaes, tu nobis dedisti-” …”
Even before Archon could finish the verse, the unconscious Grover VI starts coughing out of nowhere. All the guards in the room quickly stand ready and point their weapons toward the emperor. While Duke and Duchess were also alarmed by this, they simply didn’t know how to react to it other than staring at him. After looking at the emperor, Archon raises his claws and calls out to the guards:
“Stand still, he is just coughing…”
As the emperor continues coughing, the frightened Duchess Gabriela asks:
“Does- does he do that often?”
Archon calmly responds:
“Yes, especially when I read particular texts from this book…”
After a while, as he ends up coughing, a black-like liquid comes off the emperor's beak. The terrified Duchess enquires:
“Is that… oil!?”
Archon again calmly responds:
“Not oil, but ink…”
Duchess Gabriela screams:
“The emperor is coughing out ink?!”
Archon however doesn’t react much to it; he simply picks one of the tissues on the small table in front of him. He then proceeds to start cleaning the ink stains on the emperor's beak. Duchess couldn’t help but feel disturbed by this, but as she feels responsible for the emperor, she too picks up one of the tissues on the small table and turns to Archon:
“Archon, let me do it.”
Archon looks back at Gabriela and stares into her eyes, he sees that she too was sharing the exact feelings he was experiencing, if not more. He decides to lean back, opening up the way for her. While still hesitant, Gabriela starts cleaning the ink stains on her nephew, feeling nothing but grief over his miserable condition. Meanwhile appalled by the scene, Duke Gerlach asks in confusion:
“Archon… what is this exactly? I can’t even find the right words for this!”
Archon turns to Duke Gerlach and answers:
“See? When you two first came in here I told you the same thing… There is simply no reasoning behind it… Although I have a theory for it; Maar thinks this is funny.”
Duke Gerlach asks in confusion:
“Funny? What would be so funny about this? It’s just a child coughing out ink!”
Archon:
“It is a reference to the Chapter 4 of Journals of the Griffenheim Saints, where Saint Werner was questioned by a curious griff, who asked why he was so dedicated to writing down his thoughts rather than giving speeches, which he responded with; “The most powerful of words are never delivered through a voice, but rather through ink.”.”
Duchess Gabriela talks gloomily while continuing to clean the ink:
“Why? Just… why?”
She finishes cleaning and puts the tissue on the small table, and continues:
“Please don’t finish the verse… Let’s just move on.”
Archon:
“I understand…”
Archon closes the book and continues:
“On that day, just as I started reading the text, the atmosphere here started to… how do I put this? …*deteriorate*. And besides the unnatural behavior of the emperor, some of our guards started shaking as well. And after that… I barely can remember anything, it was like a dream… no, a nightmare, a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. I recall the pressure in my body, I felt like I could’ve collapsed any second from it, I struggled to breathe, and my vision started to blur. I also remember the emperor finally calming down, but yet, the eerie feeling in the room did not go away, instead, it progressively gets worse. Nobody was screaming, running around, or acting strange, yet, I felt like everyone was slowly losing their conciseness, including myself… I genuinely don’t understand why Maar finds these mere sentences to be so offensive, that he experiences the need to abandon the emperor’s body and his plans… And because of that, I deem what happened in this room was the closest thing in history that could be considered “a direct intervention by Boreas” …He crafted a weapon out of these mere sentences that would’ve been completely ineffective otherwise… And I want the two of you to understand that there’s no way on this planet, that I could’ve survived when the moment when Maar finally revealed himself. And there is no way of putting how brutal and insane it was.”
Duke Gerlach and Duchess Gabriela look around the darkroom, not being able to see any indication of a struggle. Duke Gerlach asks hesitantly:
“Uh… sadly I don’t see much of the room, maybe we should turn on the lights?”
Archon:
“Do you think we keep the lights off for the sake of fun? …Maar shredded the chandelier into a thousand pieces and killed two of our guards with it.”
Duchess Gabriela knew this room well, so she stares at the ceiling; and even though the room was still dark, she presumes that the chandelier was indeed missing, as the glass pieces on the chandelier surely would’ve reflected the light coming from the lamp behind Archon. She asks nervously:
“Did it like… fall on them or something?”
Archon answers in his usual cold tone:
“When I said “Maar shredded the chandelier into a thousand pieces” I meant it. The chandelier turned into a thousand, or more, sharp glass pieces and started to attack us like a storm of knives. And despite wearing heavy armor, the storm managed to kill three of our guards…”
While still horrified by the things Archon Eros said, Duchess Gabriela couldn’t help but ask:
“Archon… you said two guards, remember?”
Archon looks at her bewildered:
“Did I?”
He puts his claw on his head and tries to think, after a while, he speaks:
“Look, I don’t exactly know what killed who, and in the middle of that chaos, my greatest concern and duty was the banishment of Maar, not keeping the count of casualties…”
He again thinks to himself for a while with a bewildered face, he eventually calls out to the commander of the guards:
“Commander! How many we lost on that day exactly?”
The Commander of the Elite Squad answers quickly:
“10 dead and 15 injured, sir!”
Duke Gerlach:
“Wait, but what happened to the other Archons?”
Archon turns to Duke:
“Badly injured. But they’ll live.”
Duke Gerlach:
“How did you even keep all of this a secret? Didn’t griffons realize that two Archons are gone missing?”
Archon Eros:
“Our griffons have done their best to suppress such skepticism within the public, and even though the possibility of others learning about this is a concern for us, it’s nowhere near the real threats we are facing right now.”
Archon thinks for a moment and calls out to the commander again:
“Commander, do wall lamps here still work?”
Commander:
“I believe two of them are still somewhat functional, sir.”
Archon:
“Turn them on, there’s no point in keeping them off anymore.”
Duke Gerlach:
“Why haven’t you turned them on the whole time?
Archon looks at the unconscious emperor:
“Although I already know this isn’t the case, I’d like to believe that he is just sleeping… I just hoped… And keep the remaining lights off just in case… But it’s time to get real now.”
The two remaining wall lamps in the room lighten up, and even though they too were barely alive, they were enough to reveal the looks of the walls and the ceiling. The two started staring at the newly lit walls. The massive dark stains were all around the walls of the room, and as they continue to keep looking upwards, they saw the massive darkness that covered the ceiling, even though it wasn’t clear from the dimness of the room, everybody knew that the darkness didn’t come from the original room design. It was blood that covered the walls and ceiling.
Gabriela was looking at the ceiling in horror, but as she looked down again, she saw Archon looking at the ceiling even more horrified than she was, as it was obvious from his struggle in breathing. Archon looks back at her and Gerlach, and even though he was struggling with speaking, he still tried his best:
“For a minute or even less, the reality itself died down here. The griffons in this room… died through horrifying ways… shredded into tiny pieces in front of our eyes, got torn apart by the storm of broken glass, and some got tossed around the walls until they were nothing but a pulp of flesh…”
Archon gasps coughs, and struggles to continue:
“I already stopped reading by the time Maar revealed itself, and I was near certain that I was going to die here… But something happened… and even though I’m not sure how I think Boreas intervened… he did intervene here and helped me… he helped me gather my thoughts and freed me from the pressure of Maar, and as the griffons around me were dying or going insane, I was completely fine… and at that moment I felt that I needed to do something, something at once… But I had no idea what to do, and nothing came to my mind other than keep reading the book… But I didn’t read the book… I just didn’t, again, I don’t know why. Instead… I ran towards the emperor, and I hugged him…”
Archon gets tearful:
“And I cried… I cried as I’ve never before.”
Archon clears the tear in his eye:
“…Both of you already know that I have fathered no children, but at that moment, I learned what is it like to have one. And more importantly than that, I learned what is it like to care about one.”
Archon looks at the emperor:
“I don’t know how long I hugged him while crying, but it felt like hours to me. And the moment I finally came to my senses, I realized that the storm was already settled in the room, and found myself surrounded by the remains of the griffons that I genuinely cared about… who were loyal to me to the end… I then looked at the emperor, he was struggling to breathe and felt cold as if he went through a freezing winter. Back then we hoped that his situation would be temporary, but well… you see how it is now.”
After a moment of silence, Duchess Gabriela replies to Archon timidly in a low voice:
“Archon… Despite all the things that have occurred between us in the last couple of years… I… I must thank you… Because if I was in your position, I don’t think I could ever deal with such an affair…”
Duchess Gabriela looks at the emperor:
“And even though the condition of my nephew is breaking my heart… I cannot imagine him being possessed by Maar and getting used as a mere tool for his schemes… I’m truly grateful…”
Archon smiles to himself while tearing an eye:
“My entire life, I questioned myself if I was doing the right thing or not… but never dared to find an answer… fearing that I might encounter something disheartening for me, and realize that people were only agreeing with me because of the authority I held or simply didn’t want to see me upset… And this is the first time in my life that somebody else genuinely confirmed that I have done the right thing… And again, despite everything that happened… I too must thank you for this, Duchess Gabriela.”
Gabriela was surprised, she didn’t expect something like this to come from Archon. But in a way, she was grateful for this. As she realized that the griff that is before her isn’t the same one that she spent countless years arguing with. She understood that Archon Eros did truly change after the things he went through. But Duke Gerlach however wasn’t feeling the same as Gabriela, and he couldn’t help but look at Archon mistrustfully. Seeing Gerlach, Archon continues talking:
“I know… everything we’ve been through… is impossible to forget. Years we wanted each other dead, plotted against each other, fought wars against one another, and caused the deaths of countless griffons over our pitiful conflicts… But now, I want you to look at the situation you are in; me, Archon Eros VII of all griffons, asking you two to help me, and you two know very well what kind of a griff I am… Just think; how desperate I got to be(!) to be the one asking for your help!?”
After not receiving an answer from the two, Archon continues:
“You two have connections and skills that neither I nor my griffons have. I need you two to make our struggle against Maar more efficient, which I honestly cannot do it alone… Gabriela, I need your skills of diplomacy, and Gerlach, I need your skills in the military, and without you two, we would’ve lost… Now; I don’t require your aid, the emperor doesn’t require your aid, even the Griffonian Empire doesn’t require your aid, but the entire Realm of the Living requires your aid! If all living beings refuse to cooperate against absolute evil… I’m afraid that this world and all of its inhabitants will suffer from a fate far worse than death… I can’t take back the mistakes I’ve made in the past, and neither can you, but I’m sure we can all agree upon the fact that we are now obligated to set aside whatever disagreement we might have. And since we have lost 10 months already to the pointless war of ours, we must act now.”
Gerlach and Gabriela both stare at each other, with both of them experiencing the same inexplicable emotions over the situation they are in. Duchess Gabriela then asks in worry:
“Archon, I know we are truly late to start our campaign, but have you done anything in our absence?”
Archon sighs and answers:
“Firstly, I did my best to stop any trade coming in or out of Hellquill to cripple their economy and prevent Maar from turning it into a War Factory, but he somehow keeps finding a way, and no matter what I do, I could not prevent Hellquill products from being bought and used, even within our Empire!”
Duke Gerlach:
“How is this possible?”
Archon sighs again:
“Even though I hate to admit it, Maar is a mastermind in all fields, it is no surprise that he is proficient in administration and economic skills. In the last couple of months, Hellquill saw unparallel levels of growth, to the point where countries far away are asking us to lift the pressure on them so they could trade with Hellquill more easily. And I must admit again, their industrial products truly are unmatched… Some say Hellquill is the most well-performing country in the entire continent if not the whole world, and yeah, I understand why people think that way. But they certainly don’t know the true reason behind it. Primarily, we need to locate the countries that aren’t under the influence of Maar, make contacts with them and try to set up a plan, without mentioning this whole Maar thing of course. Because to be honest, no sane being would believe the things that we’ve gone through, and I can’t blame them for it.”
Gabriela:
“Do we know anyone other than Changelings that might be under the influence of Maar?”
Archon answers without delay:
“Dread League. We are sure about it. We even contacted the Knights of the Arcturian Order many months ago and explained to them the whole thing, since they are the only ones in the entire Griffonia that would believe in something like this.”
Gabriela:
“Did they?”
Archon:
“Of course, I’d even say we’ve made great progress with them. Still, their support alone is simply nowhere near what we need. And while we tried to make closer diplomatic ties with other countries, we made no progress… Gabriela, I need you to convince other countries, regardless of ideology, race, region, or religion, to support us. But sadly, we live in a time where everybody has fixed their eyes on each other’s territory, so while we are making allies, we might even have to find solutions for the existing issues.”
Archon stops for a while:
“As for the Riverlands, it already might be too late for them…”
Duke Gerlach:
“Riverlands? I knew Katerinburg always wanted to invade those regions, did something happen recently?”
Archon:
“Yes, I understand why you wouldn’t follow the news the last couple of months… The entire Riverlands started to trade with Hellquill on an unnatural phase.”
The two go wide-eyed, as Gabriela asks in confusion:
“Riverlands? Do you mean the countries that are filled with ponies? Isn’t there are backlash?”
Archon:
“Maar is no Katerinburg, and he is no ideological zealot. He knows the best decision would be to trade with Riverlands. And on how Riverlands countries accepted the trade deal; they simply didn’t. I believe what happened there is exactly what Maar tried to pull up here. He took over their countries without the notice of anyone, and although their populations are angry about this, their leaders are probably no longer themselves.”
Gabriela:
“This is… very grim.”
Archon:
“I know, that’s why we need to focus on others.”
Duke Gerlach:
“Including the Republicans?”
Archon:
“Not just the Republicans, but Aquileia, Equestria, and others as well. We need their support no matter the past or current grievances. And I know me saying all of this strange but as I told you, the realm of living has no choice but to cooperate.”
Duchess Gabriela:
“But what about Changelings? We still have good relations with them, right? Are we supposed to just abandon the friendship and switch to Equestria?”
Archon:
“I genuinely don’t know. Can you do something about it?”
Gabriela thinks to herself for a second and answers:
“I think… I can do something about it.”
Archon tries to smile at Gabriela and then looks at the emperor. After a moment of silence, he speaks:
“It is irritating, isn’t it? Fully knowing what happened here, but can’t let the world know about it, because the moment you let them know, they’ll say that “the zealot griff has truly gone mad”.”
He turns to them again and asks:
“Any other questions?”
Gabriela:
“I don’t even know where to start.”
Duke Gerlach looks at Gabriela:
“Same…”
Archon sighs:
“Yes… We still have much to discuss… but I think it would be best for you to end this discussion for now.”
Archon then calls out to the commander:
“Commander, take two of your guards and escort Duke and Duchess to their room.”
He then continues talking:
“I know all of this is too much for you to take in… but please think about all of this tonight. We’ll talk tomorrow, until then, rest well.”
As the guards arrive next to Duke and Duchess, not knowing how to answer, the two simply nod to Archon and quietly exit the room.
As they walk through the corridors of the palace, Gerlach asks Gabriela:
“Can you believe any of this? All this is just… absurd.”
Gabriela:
“I don’t want to believe any of it, but yet… I’m living through it… And as long as it is going to save my nephew from his current state, I’m ready to do anything.”
Gerlach doesn’t answer, the two continue walking through the palace corridors.
